Jubliee USA's Blog
 

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Climate Change: Washing away Pakistan

By Sobia Ijaz

As the world watches, Pakistan adds to its list of challenges a problem on a scale never seen by the country before; not only must it struggle with its domestic economic and political problems, but Pakistan faces its worst natural disaster in the form of flooding caused by torrential rain.  In a country in which over 60% of the people live on $2 a day, the UN estimates that 1600 people have been killed by the flooding and nearly 14 million affected.  The numbers continue to climb as the country now faces more rain and water-borne diseases in its refugee communities.

Every day that passes I see and hear more about my country being washed away.  Mud brick homes that gave shelter to the deprived are destroyed by a deluge of water.  People that spend their entire lives gathering simple possessions and livestock, and selling what little they had to make a living now find everything they ever possessed under water.  The little land they owned is now nowhere to be found.

As the heavy rains continue, and people remain trapped throughout the flooded areas, the thought of reconstruction is far from the first priority concern.  Despite focusing on short-term rescue, long-term implications remain daunting. The health impacts caused by the flooding are one part of a bigger picture: the threat of water-borne diseases has become reality as the United Nations has confirmed cases of cholera.  Most refugees are still being rescued and placed into temporary homes, but as life in refugee camps becomes a harsh reality, survivors’ mental health will certainly be affected by the trauma of displacement and an uncertain future.  Other long-term impacts of the flood in Pakistan will slowly be realized and uncovered.  In a New York Times article Fazl Maula Zahid, the regional manager of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, discussed long-term food security in Pakistan.  Land in northern Pakistan that was once fertile, feeding thousands of people, will become desert like due to the flooding.  These are only a few of many problems Pakistan will face in the future.

These climate refugees from the flooding add to the thousands of Northern Pakistani villagers already left homeless from receding glaciers filling their towns with water.  The melting glaciers and increased rainfall in Pakistan have given way to discussions about the effects of global warming on Pakistan. Khalid Rashid, a mathematician and physicist who studies changes in global weather patterns, explained a possible root cause of the flooding: “Above-normal temperatures in the Indian Ocean give rise to increased precipitation. And in the north of Pakistan, when moisture-riddled wind currents collide with the mountains and are pushed up into cooler altitudes, moisture is released in the form of cloud bursts”.  These weather patterns have been exacerbated and made worse because of climate change.  Similar to harsher storms we’ve seen off the Gulf Coast in recent years.  The chief of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) commented on Pakistan’s current climate, “The floods of the kind that hit Pakistan may become more frequent and more intense in the future in this and other parts of the world”.

Developing third world countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh have done little to cause or exacerbate the problem of climate change.  Pakistan is neither a major contributor of carbon dioxide nor a major polluter in the world. According to United Nations data from 2006, an average American emitted 23 times as much carbon as the average Pakistani. 

Despite this, Pakistan is unfairly faced with dealing with the devastating effects of global warming.  Pakistan, a country whose government spends only 0.8% of its GDP on healthcare, does not have the resources to deal with a natural disaster of this scale.  After UN Chief, Ban Ki-Moon’s visit to Pakistan he stated, “In the past I have visited scenes of many nature disasters around the world, but nothing like this. The scale of this disaster is so large, so many people, in so many places, in so much need”.  The United Nations has reported that the number of people suffering from the floods in Pakistan could exceed the combined total from the Tsunami in 2004, the Kashmir earthquake in 2005, and the Haiti earthquake. 

In fact, a

Monday, August 16, 2010

Africa: Could the Global Economic Crisis Spur Debt Reform for the Continent?

Our colleagues from Afrodad in Zimbabwe collaborated with Jubilee USA this past week to discuss potential solutions to unsustainable debt burdens facing many impoverished countries with policymakers and civil society.  Check out Leslie Pitterson’s article about these issues “Africa: Could the Global Economic Crisis Spur Debt Reform for the Continent?” featured in All Africa. 

Africa: Could the Global Economic Crisis Spur Debt Reform for the Continent?
By Leslie Pitterson, MediaGlobal
16 August 2010

Will the global economic crisis bring together both developed and developing nations to create oversight for foreign lending? This is the hope of many advocacy groups calling for a United Nations debt arbitration mechanism.

In a round table meeting in New York last week, advocate groups discussed the need to address Africa's worsening debt crisis. According to the most current numbers from the IMF and World Bank, sub-Saharan Africa has over $231 billion in external debt. Though the region receives $10 billion dollars in aid per year, it loses more than $14 billion in debt payments annually.

Collins Magalasi, Executive Director of the African Forum and Network for Debt and Development (AFRODAD), said foreign debt was crippling African countries.

"The issue of debt is one of the biggest obstacles in development on the continent. We know that debt can be legitimate and it can also be illegitimate."As the Millennium Development ten-year anniversary summit approaches in September, AFRODAD will be working with Jubilee USA Network, an American organization that advocates for debt cancellation in impoverished countries in the developing world.

At present, there is no UN agency providing specific oversight of debt disputes. The United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has included in its charter principles to govern borrowing, but does not include specific framework to handle disputes that arise when a country is unable to make payments on its loans.

Magalasi stressed that the purpose is not to question whether or not countries should be borrowing. "That's not our realm," he said. "What we're asking is: if a county is unable to meet their obligations and wants to appeal their debt, is there a third-party at the international level to listen or no? Right now is the answer no."

Africa's debt crisis is illustrated most vividly in countries like Malawi, which spends 40 percent of its GDP repaying foreign creditors and15 percent on its healthcare and education combined.

With Greece's debt woes dominating business headlines in Europe and America, AFRODAD believes there is an opportunity for developing nations to gain support from developed nations for debt reform.

"Much of the discussion on vulture creditors has been quelled in the halls of power because it only applied to Africa and the third world," said Magalasi. "Now, with developed countries in the West feeling their wrath as well, maybe there can be political will to push this change."

While it is unclear if Greece's woes will provide enough impetus to bring Europe and America to call for a UN arbitration mechanism, some think China's increasing growth as a creditor nation may raise enough concern to help bolster efforts for reform.

Since 2004, China has pumped over $14 billion into Africa, providing capital for many much-needed infrastructure projects. However, China's relationship with the government in Sudan despite ICC war charges against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has many weary of the giant's presence on the continent.

"China's move is massively scary because they have shown no regard for human rights and conditions in the countries," said Magalasi. The AFRODAD executive stressed that weaknesses of African governance also played a role in the relationship with China. "Many leaders love Chinese aid because it is easier than dealing with the responsibilities that come with Western aid."

The increased investment in Africa has provided tensions within Western creditor nations of the Paris Club of which China is not a member. The Club, an informal group of 19 creditor nations established in 1956, meets every six weeks at France's Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Industry.

Also in attendance for last week's round table discussion was Barry Herman, Visiting Senior Fellow at the Graduate Program in International Affairs of The New School. In an interview with MediaGlobal, Herman explained that China's involvement in Africa was a source of concern for Paris Club:

"China, as well as Gulf donors/creditors, has caused some unease among OECD official creditors, as China is not in the Paris Club of OECD government creditors and so is not bound by any debt relief decision the Paris Club creditors might take."

Not only does China remain unrestricted by the decisions of the Paris Club, it has now become a major creditor of many of the Western countries within the Club.

According to Eric LeCompte, Jubilee's Executive Director, China's rise underscored the need for debt reform.

"As China becomes a larger creditor - it illustrates that a sovereign debt work-out mechanism is necessary," LeCompte told MediaGlobal. "We need a transparent and open process, so that no matter which country or international financial institution a country is in dispute with, there is a mechanism where the rules are clear and any country can have its case heard fairly."

For AFRODAD and Jubilee, the roundtable was the start of a two week trip filled with meetings in New York and Washington. The groups will be working to generate support among US policymakers and NGOs in the months leading up to the Millennium Development Goals Summit in Se

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Meet Mr. Nyirenda, Mr. Nyrongi, and Innocent

By Pat Rumer, Debt Detective

Here's the second part of the story of my investigation on Zambia's education system and the impacts of debt cancellation.

Chibombo is about 100 kilometers north of Lusaka, the capital. There is a good road that leads through rich farming land – much of it owned and farmed by white Zambians.  At the Chibombo Secondary School Deputy Head Teacher,  Mr. Nyirenda. proudly announced that they have parity between girls and boys at the school with three dorms for girls and three for boys. There are both boarding and day students at the school although the majority live on campus.  Boarding school students pay $100 USD per term and day students pay $50-60 USD per term.

The Chibombo Secondary School is set off the main road on a small campus.  There are 114 basic schools in the district, but they are the only government secondary school in the district.  The Chibombo district is larger than the UK!, Mr. Nyirenda exclaimed.  The school teaches industrial arts, home economics, music, fine arts as well as university preparatory courses.

Mr. Nyirenda also talked about some of the benefits of debt cancellation:

• Expand health clinic
• Pave the road to school
• Sink bore holes(wells) for water in community
• Construct three new rural high schools – in process
• Hire new teachers (teachers are hired at the national level and then, teachers are assigned to specific schools.)

The most interesting part was when I met with the entire student body to discuss the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – John Nyrongi, the language and history teacher, selected 15 students to sit down with me – I asked them for their ideas on ending poverty in Zambia.  It was a lively discussion as they have studied the MDG’s and certainly, know about poverty.  Innocent, a student leader, said that with job creation and more jobs in agriculture, poverty can be reduced.  Another young man talked about the problem of children-headed households (due to HIV-AIDS deaths) and urged local communities to support these children.  A third student said that dependence on mining (Zambia’s number one export is copper) needs to change, as it is a non-renewable resource.  The focus should be on agriculture and the extension of credit to subsistence farmers.  Only one student mentioned fighting corruption as an anti-poverty strategy.  The students had many questions for me about USA life.  We talked about racism in America- does it exist?  Yes, I replied but it is changing slowly.  All the students were quite excited about President Obama!

In conclusion, debt cancellation benefits have been uneven.  Urban students have more opportunities for a better education than rural students.  More teachers have been hired and more schools are being built.  Recently, the government began to place teachers in open community schools and to fund larger community schools.  They struggle, however, to finance housing for rural teachers and to pay into the pension program.

I was impressed by the dedication of the teachers in all the schools and their insights into what the country needs to do to emerge from poverty.  Zambian society has a real asset in its teachers and administrative staff – young, bright and committed!

Friday, July 30, 2010

The Road to Recovery: Haiti

By Moriam Durosinmi-Etti.

On Tuesday January 12, 2010, at about noon, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti at the depth of 8.1 miles. After about 8 aftershocks, out of 9 million residents, 92 thousand were killed, 300 thousand were injured and millions were left homeless.

Before the earthquake, Haiti was a country already struggling to hold its head up high, with its health and most if not all of its other sector resource starved and understaffed.

The earthquake officially changed their position, crippling their health, economy and other sectors in the government,making it the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Since the earthquake, the crime rate in the country sky rocketed, especially against women and young girls. With the justice system crippled, the offenders continue their ways.

This week, I had the opportunity to go for the Haiti briefing at the Rayburn building on July 27, 2010. This hearing discussed the current problems of Haiti and their supposed solutions. The hearing was quite educative, because it gave me an insight to the current situations and problems in Haiti. Its been six months since the earthquake and 98% of the country is still filled qith debris from buildings and the dead not fully buried.

Most of the hearing revolved around the Internally Displaces Persons (IDP) Camps, which were created to temporarily house the homeless families of Haiti. Though these families were guaranteed food and security until their homes were inspected, none of these were provided. The living condition in these camps is poor and very unhealthy - not even a toilet can be found in this facility, increasing health risks for the individuals living there.

I personally find it disheartening that six months after the disaster, no significant improvement can be seen in Haiti. The citizens and the government may be doing their best with the little resource they have, but before any significant change can be made within the country, the government has to improve drastically. This is another issue brought up at the hearing. In my opinion, Haiti may be the first independent nation in Latin America, but it has nothing to show of their success. Even thought the earthquake was a disaster and a sad moment in her history, this could be a chance for Haiti to prove her worth and actually hold her head up high.

At the hearing, they also talked about what Haiti needs now. For any progress to be made in this country, the debris must be cleared. To salvage the economy, food and other edible products should be bought locally - this will help to pacify the already destabilized system and also the farmers and traders. Experts also thought the country should also try implementing a more decentralized system of government, so that each departme